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Theodore J. Richardson, artist and teacher, was best-known as the "Artist of Alaska." Born in Readfield, ME, Richardson grew up in Red Wing, MN. At the urging of his teachers at Winona Normal School, he trained at the Boston Normal Art School. After graduating art school, Richardson returned to Winona Normal School to teach drawing, penmanship, and geometry. He moved to Minneapolis a year later to become the supervisor of drawing in the public schools, a position he held for 15 years. Richardson made his first sketching trip to Alaska at the urging of a friend in 1884, the year that steamship tourism to the region began. He found inspiration in Sitka, its Native Americans, and the surrounding regions. It was at this time that Richardson began sketching and painting the Southeast Alaskan landscape. He also researched the customs of the native peoples, and his works are known for their faithful and objective representations of Native American culture. Richardson made return trips to Alaska almost every year from 1888 until 1896 when he and his wife traveled through Europe for six years studying art. Richardson made a triumphant return to Sitka in 1902 and was kept busy making works for his many clients. Between 1903 and approximately 1912, Richardson spent his winters in California or Mexico and his summers in Alaska. In Alaska, his usual method was to develop watercolor sketches while in the field, often working in a rowboat he had turned into a floating studio. He would then complete the painting in his studio over the winter. Richardson generally did not date his works of Alaska, and he often painted multiple copies of the same scene. Richardson made his final trip to Alaska in the summer of 1914 where he worked on several major paintings. He returned from the trip exhausted and died that same year on November 14th in Minneapolis. During Richardson's lifetime, his works appeared in several exhibitions, including one at the Louisiana Purchase Centennial Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. He was also a member of several professional organizations for artists. After his death, his wife donated several of his paintings of Alaska to the Smithsonian Institution.